Cut Clutter in 3 Simple Steps

If you live in a home with people other than just yourself, you may have encountered the issue with keeping it tidy and organized at some point or another. I know I have! And if you haven’t…well, you can stop reading now, because this post is not for you. 🙂

We HAD a Tidy Home…Then We Had Kids

I get it. There will be messes. My kids are small, and a big part of learning and growing creatively includes playing with their many, many toys and making a mess, and that is TOTALLY okay! Messes can be cleaned up. And those messes are also a beautiful representation of imagination, creativity and all things special about childhood.

Truth be told, there was something much bigger than the daily toy dump that was getting me down. And, as I stood there preaching to my daughter on the importance of putting things away after she was done using them, it hit me like a ton of bricks. I realized that there was absolutely nothing that I was asking her to do that I wasn’t also guilty of myself. My four-year-old daughter was becoming a mirror of my bad habits!

Clutter on the counter. Papers covering up my desk. Coats and bags strewn on the couch and dining room chairs. Yuck, yuck, yuck. She was learning every moment of every day from me. But it wasn’t my words she was learning from. It was my actions.

Something definitely to change around our house and (cringe) it started with me.

I’m an avid reader (or, audiobook listener) and had already read some amazing books on home and life organization. They were more than just entertaining and enjoyable to listen to, they also had some life-changing tips. If ever there was a time to put them into action, it was now.

As Ruth Soukup, author of the book Living Well Spending Less puts it “It takes 60 days to make anything a habit. Stick with it for 60 days and it will become second nature.”

Keep reading to learn a few of my favorite tips that we’ve been incorporating into our day-to-day routine. And wow, have they made a difference.

1. Everything You Own Should Have a Home

This is a tip I learned from Marie Kondo’s book, The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up. Or, as my grandma used to say: “A place for everything, and everything in its place.” If you’re thinking: “Okay, that’s just common sense!” You’re totally right. It is.

But, just like eating healthy, exercising, or any other great habit, it takes putting that knowledge into action to reap the benefits. As I took a good, hard look around my living space, I realized how many random things (or stow-aways, as I like to call them), were cluttering up my home on a daily basis. The biggest offenders? Lids, wrappers, trinkets, and junk mail that seemed to attack us on a daily basis. These things liked to congregate on our high countertop and dining room table.

Have you ever heard the expression “clutter breeds clutter?” It’s true. So, we’ve worked hard to find a “home” for everything that enters ours. If it doesn’t seem to fit anywhere it gets tossed or donated. At times it feels like an uphill battle. However, I’m happy to report that, in just a few short weeks, it is getting easier!

Before dinner we take time to put our things back in their respective homes. Our rule for new things that come into the house is to decide right then and there where that item will “live.”

The clarity it is providing our family is invaluable.

2. Anything that takes 30 seconds or less should be done immediately.

Now that everything in our house has a designated spot, this next step is so easy! I never realized just how long 30 seconds was, until I started counting as I put things away.

I learned this handy little tip while listening to Ruth Soukup’s audiobook Living Well Spending Less. It is such an enjoyable and relatable book that I highly recommend. Ruth is such a breath of fresh air, and actually runs an amazing blog by the same name as well. But I digress!

After learning this tip, it has helped stop my bad habit of just throwing things anywhere in its tracks. Bags on the couch and coats on the chairs? Not anymore. The moment I start to throw those things somewhere they don’t belong, I stop. I pick that item up and I take it to it’s “home.” And you know what? It has never taken me over 30 seconds to put something away.

Fun fact: My daughter and I can actually be lazier by just putting things back where they belong from the get go.

We’re a few weeks into this process as a family and it’s going well! We’re striving towards that 60 day mark of just making these things a habit. I feel myself breathing easier as I set out to tidy up the house each day. Everything has a place. And it’s amazing! I literally feel myself breathing a little bit easier in a neater, more organized home. For my four-year-old, it is a work in progress, but I can tell she’s enjoying having a “home” for all of her things as well.

So, while total home organization not always as easy as 1-2-3…these simple steps will get you well on-your-way to getting there!

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I cut the clutter 2 years ago and it is a constant way if life that you have to keep up with. I did the Konmari method and purged my whole house in 6 weeks. Life is so much easier. You have great tips.

Love this! I have a stack of random papers that could be neatly put away into my file folder (or thrown away), yet it’s right there.. and has been there for months. I definitely want everything to have a home, that way it’s actually possible to clean up! I have a 7 month old so her toys have completely overrun my living room, but that’s something I can deal with (;

I can totally identify with that. I feel like I fight paper clutter on a daily basis. You HAVE to check out The Ultimate Guide to Going Paperless from Just a Girl and Her Blog’s Abby & Donnie Lawson. It has totally transformed my office, and allowed me to get rid of thousands of paper copies in my home. You can check it out here: (affiliate link) http://bit.ly/PaperlessHomeKS. And, I here you with the kids toys. That’s just the beautiful chaos of motherhood :). 7 months is SUCH a fun age. My son is 8 months. Loving every minute of it.

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Hey there! I'm Kristal. Lover of great coffee and moments shared with my people, and pet Bentley! Join me on my journey to simplify the day-to-day in motherhood in order to be more present for the moments that matter most. Read More…

About the Author

Hey there! I'm Kristal. Lover of great coffee and moments shared with my people, and pet Bentley! Join me on my journey to simplify the day-to-day in motherhood in order to be more present for the moments that matter most. Read More…